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A Complete Guide to Understanding Blog Bounce Rate

Let’s begin by being honest for a moment. I love writing. I enjoy watching as a piece of content is created and I know what I am writing will help someone build their business. What I HATED was the technical side of the business.

My attitude was like, “REALLY!” I had to learn all of this SEO mumbo jumbo if I was going to be a successful blogger?

I was like feeding a child only wanting to eat (do) what I liked and refused to eat my veggies. But, I realized if I persisted in this mind set and refused to learn Google Analytics, then like a child refusing to eat what was healthy, my blog would evidently wither and die!

This is why today we discuss your blog or websites bounce rate.

We will begin with what is a “bounce rate”. Then, after you have a deeper understanding of what a bounce rate is and how it affects your blog, we will cover three ways you can lower your blog bounce rate and give your readers an enjoyable experience while visiting your site.

What is Bounce Rate

According to Google, your website (or Blogs) bounce rate is defined as the percentage of visitors to your website who navigate away from the site after viewing only one page.

In other words, using this page as an example, you are here visiting this page right now. If you are finish reading this article and leave without visiting ANOTHER PAGE, my bounce rate will increase (thereby hurting my sites SEO).

However, if you find value while reading this article and visit another page on my blog, my bounce rate lowers thereby increasing its SEO and eventually increase its ranking.

Simply put, your bounce rate is a way for Google to know if people are finding value on the issue they searched for on your page. If your bounce rate remains low, Google rewards your site by ranking it higher in the search engine! But, if your bounce rate is to high, Google takes notice and will lower your overall ranking.

As a rule of thumb, bounce rate percentages look like this:

25 to 40 percent Bounce Rate – Excellent.

41 to 55 percent – About Average.

56 to 70 percent – Higher than average.

70 percent and Over – Cause for Alarm.

How to Reduce Your Blog Bounce Rate

As you see in the image here, this post has an amazingly low bounce rate of only 5.56 percent! This is EXCELLENT! And, you will notice the over all bounce rate of all my post combined is only 5.05%.

Friends, it don’t get no better than that! With an industry average of 41-55%, to have a blog producing only a 5.05% bounce rate is nothing short of DYNAMIC!

However, if you check your Google Analytics and discover your post is receiving a higher bounce rate then you would want, hurry up and fix it! You may be losing money hand over fist. Here is the Magical Formula I use to keep such a low blog bounce rate:

Write Compelling Content

Be sure to answer as many of the “W” questions as possible:

Why are you writing the post;

Who the post is for;

What will the reader learn;

Where they can find more information on the subject;

Deliver What You Promised

Many people will find your site from searching a topic they have interest in.

When they get there, you want them to find the solution they were looking for. And, IF you have effectively answered their question, they will be open to suggestions for other readings and visit another page on your blog.

Link to Other Post You Have Written

When it is relevant, you should add a link to another blog post you have written. If you use the Yoast SEO plug-in on your blog, you will notice one factor it takes into effect internal links. The reason they are offering this advice is it gives the reader another opportunity to visit another relevant page. So be sure to add one where appropriate.

Improve Your Storytelling

Everyone loves a good story. In this post for example, I began my story with sharing how getting me to learn SEO was like trying to feed a child vegetables they don’t like. I didn’t want to do it.

Then, I reassure the reader how simple it was to learn and how easy it would be for them too.

And, in the end, the desired action I want from the reader is to implement the lessons taught here today.

Use the Yoast Comment Hacks Plugin from WordPress

The purpose of the Yoast Comment Hacks is multifaceted (see my complete review here). But, what I love best about it is the ability to redirect first time commenters to a “secret” page on your blog only they can access and only they can see.

Every time someone leaves a comment on your blog the first time, your blog bounce rate will drop because of the internal redirect.

It is the PERFECT lead nurturing plugin and a must have…

Conclusion

Bubbie is a Leader Partner in the largest lead generation platform on the planet. He is currently a Professor at Branding YOUniversity, where he helps business owners brand themselves on line.

7 thoughts on “A Complete Guide to Understanding Blog Bounce Rate”

Hi Bubbie!
Impressive bounce rate you have there! That’s very good. It means that people are engaging with your blog’s content and finding value.
I’m not sure about the bounce rate percentage you mentioned, as I think they vary depending on the industry and the query.

Sometimes, a high bounce rate is a good thing.

Like if many people find your blog post, read it, and then leave without clicking on another search result, that means you have answered their question in full.

I think Google knows this difference as well and recognizes the blog posts that actually are helpful and those who are not. Thanks again for sharing!

Hi Stefan,
Thanks for the thoughtful comment. Yes, you are correct. The reason for the low bounce rate is a direct result of viewer engagement!
I would ask you consider, take deep thought, and rationalize the concept of “Sometimes, a high bounce rate is a good thing.”
Think about it like this:
1) If your blog bounce rate is high, then like we both agree, it means people are finding the content; reading it (maybe), and then exiting the site without any further engagement.
2) No engagement = nothing sold!
3) Nothing sold = Blogger stays broke!

There once was a man who labored day in and day out till he had built his own home. He did it on his own. And, He was proud of his accomplishments.
He was pleased with his work until a knock came to the door.

His FIRST guest!

He ran to meet his new guest. But, quickly became disappointed because his friend had nothing but questions and negative things to say about his home.
“I can see daylight through the roof,” his friend pointed out. And, “Won’t it get cold in here. Look at the cracks in the walls!”

As the man sat and considered his friends advice, another knock came to the door.
With hesitation, the man opened the door. There before him was another friend coming to visit.
Would he too find all the things wrong with his new home?
To his surprise however, the second friend turned to him and said, “What a Great Job!”

“But, there’s holes in the roof and cracks in the walls,” shared the old man.

“True,” his friend replied. “But, on the East Side of town EVERYBODY has cracks in their walls.”
“And, as for the holes in the roof,” continued his friend, “think of the time you will save fetching water everyday!”

Wanting to believe in himself and his work, the ol’ man did nothing. And, when the rain came, his home was flooded. And, when the winter came, the ol’ man lay freezing.
————
It’s the same with your blog bounce rate. Yes, Google KNOWS the difference and recognizes rather a blog post is actually helpful. And, one of the MAJOR factors is Blog Bounce Rate! It is Google’s way of telling us we have HOLES IN OUR ROOF.
Now we have two choices:
1) Listen to the wise friend – Google; or,
2) Listen to those who tell us everything is alright. That it is okay for 60 (out of 100) people that come to your blog and leave without ANY interaction.

Hi Chris,
Always a pleasure 🙂
I am pleased you found it helpful and informative.
Unfortunately, I have an update –
Since this writing my blog bounce rate sky rocketed from 5-6 percent to over 60!
I only did two things different….and running test to see if one was the reason for the increase.
If I’m right (and I usually am), then I may have found the main reason for the industry high bounce rate!

More on my findings when the results come in.
To be sure you don’t miss them subscribe here for updates!

Oh my gosh you have no idea how much I related to your intro 🙂 I also love writing and was shocked at how much of this SEO na technical stuff I had to learn when I started my blog. One thing that has always confused me was the bounce rate – thanks for explaining that in such a simple and easy to understand way